Starter distillate
Starter distillateListed as a flavouring agent by the US.
Listed as flavouring agents and adjuvants (US)
- United States: Flavoring agent or adjuvant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: BUTTER STARTER DISTILLATE
- United States: Flavoring agents and adjuvants — 21 CFR 184.1848, citing 21 CFR 170.3(o)(12)
Starter distillate is a concentrated butter flavour, the volatile fraction distilled off cultured milk. It is how margarine and many processed foods get a butter note.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Canada | No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here. | ||
| European Union | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Great Britain | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance. | ||
| United States | Permitted | 21 CFR 184.1848retrieved 2026-10-17 | |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
How much is permitted
A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.
| United States | — | 1 no quantity stated |
|---|
No regulator sets a figure for Starter distillate. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.
What it is made from
Distilled from a milk culture fermented with the same bacteria used for cultured butter. The starting material is dairy.
- Not vegan
- Vegetarian
- May raise a kosher question
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
As it appears in regulation
- Starter distillate
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Common questions
Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.
- What is Starter distillate?
- Starter distillate is a concentrated butter flavour, the volatile fraction distilled off cultured milk. It is how margarine and many processed foods get a butter note.
- What is Starter distillate used for in food?
- It is listed as a flavouring agent — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
- Is Starter distillate banned in Europe?
- No. Starter distillate is not on the EU's list of authorised food additives, but it would not be expected to be: every role regulators give it — flavouring agent — the EU regulates under separate law. Its absence from the additives list says nothing about whether it is permitted in Europe.
- Where is Starter distillate permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
- Is Starter distillate vegan?
- No. Starter distillate is animal-derived, though it is generally accepted as vegetarian. This page says what it is made from.
Sources for this page
- ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable: a JSON record of this additive is given on request —how to ask for access.
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